andyisbanned

I noticed a few names missing. I went thur the thread and I hope I got everyone's name and date right. :smile: Babedoe4---------------March 6th Becca------------------March 6th Shinyhappymommy------March 6th Enchantedruby----------March 7th Ponomimi---------------March 10th Jaxbanster--------------March 11th Angie4b1g--------------March 11th CynthiaMcc-------------March 12th Marathinner-------------March 12th Sadie-------------------March 13th Happy One--------------March 13th NewCreation413--------March 13th Mary04-----------------March 13th purplecandle..............March 13th......so ready for it!!! Sharon160--------------March 17th mhazelrigg--------------March 17th terri guilford-------------March 17th LoupNocturne-----------March 17th Applesmith1226---------March 18th Viridesence-------------March 18th gweniviere--------------March 19th....and looking fwd to it! Danielle......................March 19th AndyisBanded----------March20th (1st Fill—Woohooo) Michelle9003-----------March20th Absofsteel--------------March21st Nurseoffaith------------March 24th Beachbum0519--------March 25th Coolcrystal-------------March 25th Beachbum0519---------March 25th Nicolek-----------------March 26th Mel119 (Melinda)------March 26th Rhapsody♥ ------------March 26th Princess21--------------March 27th Taismommy-------------March 28th Marathinner................April 2nd (FILL #2!!) Angie4b1g.................April 2nd (#2!) BlessedTwice-----------April 3rd Woo Hoo..Hoping for restriction 1st time! Jennyxo----------------April 3rd StLouisGal--------------April 3rd JaxBandster.................April 4th (Fill #2) LilMissBand-Aid---------April 10th Misspeesh95621--------April 11th tskelli-------------------April 16th

Grace: Sorry to hear of your lose, but I rejoice with you on the news of approval. I wish you the best.

Babedoe4---------------March 6th Becca------------------March 6th Shinyhappymommy------March 6th Enchantedruby----------March 7th Ponomimi---------------March 10th Jaxbanster--------------March 11th Angie4b1g--------------March 11th CynthiaMcc-------------March 12th Marathinner-------------March 12th Sadie-------------------March 13th Happy One--------------March 13th NewCreation413--------March 13th Sharon160--------------March 17th mhazelrigg--------------March 17th terri guilford-------------March 17th LoupNocturne-----------March 17th Viridesence-------------March 18th gweniviere--------------March 19th....and looking fwd to it! Danielle......................March 19th AndyisBanded----------March20th Michelle9003-----------March20th Nicolek-----------------March 26th Princess21--------------March 27th Taismommy-------------March 28th Jennyxo----------------April 3rd StLouisGal--------------April 3rd LilMissBand-Aid---------April 10th Misspeesh95621--------April 11th

Hi everyone: I am 42 and banded on Feb. 14th. I have lost 25lbs so far and doing great. I love my band. I look forward to losing the 130 lbs I need to lose and become the new thinner me. I wish I could have been banded much sooner, but happy to have it now.

Bama: I had my surgery at MMCN in Guntersville. North treated me well. the hospitals are virtually the same except their locations. Good luck on the 4th.

Congrats Bama. where will you have your surgery? Good luck.

Bama: Good luck on your surgery. Dr. Britt and staff are wonderful. I was banded on 2/14/2008 at Marshall Medical North by Dr. Britt. amy is great and the pre-op class with her is very informative. Elizabeth will actually schedule your surgery. If you have started you pre-op diet, then I would think you should be able to have surgery next week. Keep us informed.

To get approved, you have some hoops to jump thur. I started with a seminar on the Lap-Band and learned as much as I could on-line. At the seminar, Dr. Britt & Dr. Groves along with their staff provided a very informative hour. They stay afterwards for an hour or two for Q&A. BCBS of AL began approving the Lap-Band surgery in April 2007. It may vary according to your policy as to what or how to qualify. My policy will only cover 80% of the surgery but 100% of any follow up for 1 year. I will have to pay about $400.00 prior to surgery. Here is my experience to get approved with BCBS: 1. You must have a BMI over 40 without any co-morbidites or over 35 with at least 2 of 3 co-morbidites. The co-morbidites are sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, & Diabetes. My BMI is over 40 and I have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and High Blood Pressure. Due to my OSA, I have a trach. 2. You must have maintained a BMI of 35 with co-morbidites or over 40 for the last 3 years. This is will be checked and verified by your surgeon & BCBS thur copies of your medical records you must have submitted by your doctors to the surgeons office. I received a application packet at the seminar and it had the forms to send to my doctors to request the release of a copy of my records to my surgeon. I was able to have my sleep doctor, my ENT, and my family doctor submit copies of my medical records for the last 5 years which I think helped. Any of the doctors you have visited in the last 5 years counts. The insurance is looking to verify you BMI thur your recorded weight & height records from the various doctors. 3. If you meet 1 & 2, you must now complete at your expense a 6 month doctor directed diet with your family physician. During the diet, you must maintain a exercise and food journal to document your success or failure of the diet. This stage will require 7 monthly visits, scheduled at least 30 days apart with your family doctor. This is key as BCBS requires at least 30 days between each visit or it does not count. One day to soon and it will result in failure for approval. Your physician will be required to fill out a paper each month to provide to your surgeon for submission to BCBS. My surgeon provided the form and my family doctor just made copies each month and gave me the original to send to my surgeon. It cost me about $500 to complete this phase. I finished in December 2007. My family doctor knew why I wished to complete this diet program and was very supportive and understanding. My sleep doctor and ENT want me to get this surgery to help with my OSA. 4. Once complete with the diet, your surgeon can submit your paperwork to BCBS. BCBS will then require a consult with a physical therapist and a nutritionist. These consult visits are to teach you the exercise and diet plans you must follow prior to and after the surgery. I spent an hour showing I could do the exercises with the PT. I then went and spent the next hour learning how & what to eat. I am putting it to practice now. They say it takes 40 days to make or break a habit. I have learned that some people are not required to complete this step. However, some have to complete a psychiatric evaluation and/or a sleep study. It just depends on your policy. 5. After the consults, your surgeon will submit the paperwork with the reports from PT and nutritionist. Now is the time to sit back and wait on BCBS. My approval only took an hour as the surgeon's office file on-line. Just a note here: My surgeon tells me that if BCBS rejects your request for approval, BCBS will tell you why. One patient of my surgeon was rejected because he went to his last diet visit on the 24th of the month. All of his other visits had been on the 26th of each month. This patient had to return to his family doctor for the last visit, then resubmit his paperwork. By the way, he was approved. It just shows how critical it is to keep the apponitments 30 days apart on the diet visits and to work closely with your doctors & surgeon. 6. With approval, I had to complete a pre-op training class (about an hour long) with the surgeon's staff, then have a pre-op physical with my surgeon. Then my date was set. I will have surgery on February 14th. 7. Final step is to get the surgery and start life a new. I am using Dr. Britt of Marshall Surgical group from Guntersville. They provide a free seminar monthly at the Madison Surgery Center on Lanier Road in Madison, Alabama. They also provide free seminars on the Lap-Band at Marshall Medical North & Marshall Medical South. You can check their website at http://www.samc.stirsite.com/home.html or at the hospital website Marshall Medical Centers. Dr. Britt & Dr. Groves have surgery rights at the Madison Surgery center, Crestwood in Huntsville, Marshall Medical North in Guntersville, and Marshall Medical South in Boaz. I hope this helps anyone who is looking at the Lap-Band surgery and has BCBS of AL. BCBS Federal is different than the standard BCBS of AL. You can find several on the forums with experience with the Federal version of BCBS.

Bama: Good luck on your surgery. Dr. Britt and staff are wonderful. I was banded on 2/14/2008 at Marshall Medical North by Dr. Britt. amy is great and the pre-op class with her is very informative. Elizabeth will actually schedule your surgery. If you have started you pre-op diet, then I would think you should be able to have surgery next week. Keep us informed.

Welcome and congrats to you GG. I am from Alabama too. I live in Hartselle which is about 80 miles north of Birmingham on I-65. I was banded on Feb. 14 by Dr. Stephen Britt in Guntersville. You will find a lot of folks on here from Alabama and several from the Mobile area. Andy

I pre-registered at the hospital today. I had to get bloodwork and an ekg along with a consult with the anesthesiologist. My surgery is one week away. February 14th will be here quick. I start my pre-op diet in the morning. Low sugar, low carb, high protein with lots of water diet. I am so excited! :regular_smile:

Ara I am in Hartselle. Who is some of your family? I may know them. I grew up in Priceville/Decatur area. I graduated Brewer in 1984.

AL My surgeon is Dr. Stephen Britt. He is part of the Marshall Surgical Associates. He has surgery rights at Crestwood (Huntsville), Madison Outpatient Surgery Center (Madison), Marshall Medical North (Guntersville), and Marshall Medical South (Boaz). I will be having my surgery in Guntersville.

BCBS of AL has been approving the Lap-Band surgery since April 2007. It may vary according to your policy as to what or how to qualify. My policy will only cover 80% of the surgery but 100% of any follow up for 1 year. I will have to pay about $400.00 prior to surgery. To get approved, you have some hoops to jump thur. Here is my experience: 1. Your BMI must be over 40 or over 35 with at least 2 of 3 comorbidites (IE: sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes). My BMI is over 40 and I have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and High Blood Pressure. Due to my OSA, I have a trach. 2. You must have maintained a BMI of 35 with comorbidites or over 40 for the last 3 years. This is will be checked and verified by your surgeon & BCBS thur copies of your medical records you must have submitted by your doctors to the surgeons office. I was able to have my sleep doctor, my ENT, and my family doctor submit copies of my medical records for the last 5 years which I think helped. 3. If you meet 1 & 2, you must now complete at your expense a 6 month doctor directed diet with your family physician. During the diet, you must maintain a exercise and food journal to document your success or failure of the diet. This stage will require 7 monthly visits, scheduled at least 30 days apart with your family doctor. This is key as BCBS requires at least 30 days between each visit or it does not count. You physician will be required to fill out a paper each month to provide to your surgeon for submission to BCBS. My surgeon provided the form and my family doctor just made copies and gave me the original to send to my surgeon. It cost me about $500 to complete this phase. I finished in December 2007. My family doctor knew why I wished to complete this diet program and was very supportive and understanding. My sleep doctor and ENT want me to get this surgery to help with my OSA. 4. Once complete with the diet, your surgeon can submit your paperwork to BCBS. BCBS will then require a consult with a physical therapist and a nutritionist. These consult visits are to teach you the exercise and diet plans you must follow prior to and after the surgery. I just completed this phase last week. I spent an hour showing I could do the exercises with the PT. I then went and spent the next hour learning how & what to eat. I am putting it to practice now. They say it takes 40 days to make or break a habit. I have learned that some are not required to complete this step, but some also have to complete a psychiatric evaluation. It just depends on your policy. 5. After the consults, your surgeon will re-submit the paperwork with the reports from PT and nutritionist. Now is the time to sit back and wait on BCBS. My approval only took an hour as the surgeon's office file on-line. 6. With approval, I had to complete a pre-op training class (about an hour long) with the surgeon's staff, then have a pre-op physical with my surgeon. Then my date was set. I will have surgery on February 14th. 7. Final step is to get the surgery and start life a new. I am using Dr. Britt of Marshall Surgical group from Guntersville. They provide a free seminar monthly at the Madison Surgery Center on Lanier Road in Madison, Alabama. They have surgery rights at the Madison Surgery center, Crestwood in Huntsville, Marshall Medical North in Guntersville, and Marshall Medical South. I hope this helps. Andy

BCBS of AL has been approving the Lap-Band surgery since April 2007. It may vary according to your policy as to what or how to qualify. My policy will only cover 80% of the surgery but 100% of any follow up for 1 year. I will have to pay about $400.00 prior to surgery. To get approved, you have some hoops to jump thur. Here is my experience: 1. Your BMI must be over 40 or over 35 with at least 2 of 3 comorbidites (IE: sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes). My BMI is over 40 and I have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and High Blood Pressure. Due to my OSA, I have a trach. 2. You must have maintained a BMI of 35 with comorbidites or over 40 for the last 3 years. This is will be checked and verified by your surgeon & BCBS thur copies of your medical records you must have submitted by your doctors to the surgeons office. I was able to have my sleep doctor, my ENT, and my family doctor submit copies of my medical records for the last 5 years which I think helped. 3. If you meet 1 & 2, you must now complete at your expense a 6 month doctor directed diet with your family physician. During the diet, you must maintain a exercise and food journal to document your success or failure of the diet. This stage will require 7 monthly visits, scheduled at least 30 days apart with your family doctor. This is key as BCBS requires at least 30 days between each visit or it does not count. You physician will be required to fill out a paper each month to provide to your surgeon for submission to BCBS. My surgeon provided the form and my family doctor just made copies and gave me the original to send to my surgeon. It cost me about $500 to complete this phase. I finished in December 2007. My family doctor knew why I wished to complete this diet program and was very supportive and understanding. My sleep doctor and ENT want me to get this surgery to help with my OSA. 4. Once complete with the diet, your surgeon can submit your paperwork to BCBS. BCBS will then require a consult with a physical therapist and a nutritionist. These consult visits are to teach you the exercise and diet plans you must follow prior to and after the surgery. I just completed this phase last week. I spent an hour showing I could do the exercises with the PT. I then went and spent the next hour learning how & what to eat. I am putting it to practice now. They say it takes 40 days to make or break a habit. I have learned that some are not required to complete this step, but some also have to complete a psychiatric evaluation. It just depends on your policy. 5. After the consults, your surgeon will re-submit the paperwork with the reports from PT and nutritionist. Now is the time to sit back and wait on BCBS. My approval only took an hour as the surgeon's office file on-line. 6. With approval, I had to complete a pre-op training class (about an hour long) with the surgeon's staff, then have a pre-op physical with my surgeon. Then my date was set. I will have surgery on February 14th. 7. Final step is to get the surgery and start life a new. I am using Dr. Britt of Marshall Surgical group from Guntersville. They provide a free seminar monthly at the Madison Surgery Center on Lanier Road in Madison, Alabama. They have surgery rights at the Madison Surgery center, Crestwood in Huntsville, Marshall Medical North in Guntersville, and Marshall Medical South. I hope this helps. Andy

Marie: I am a newbie too. My name is Andy and I am from Hartselle. I just received my surgery date. I will get the band on Feb. 14. Who is your insurance with?

I received my surgery date today. I will get the Lap-Band on February 14, 2008. What a valentine's day gift to myself! I cannot wait. :tt1: Yeah!!!!!:frown:

Okay. I don't know everything. Federal BCBS is evidently different. I can only speak of my experience and what I have been told by others. :tt1:

Sharpei: I have not found any BCBS policy that let's you skip the 6 month doctor directed deit. According to my surgeon's office, BCBS requires this for all of their insurees no matter the plan. This is their policy for any weight loss surgery as of 2006.

Heather: It was only an hour with online submission. You will do it.

I would be interested. Huntsville or Madison. I live in Hartselle but work in Madison. So a Madison meeting would work well for me.

I did not have to pay any co-pay. I spent an hour or so going over the different exercises I will be required to do at home as part of my surgery. I don't know if everyone has to complete a PT eval. I know some people have to have a Psyhc eval. I did not have too. I guess it is a little different according to your plan.

I received the call today from my surgeon's office. BCBS of Alabama has approved my surgery. I need to complete my Pre-Op physical and class with my surgeon and his staff, which I will do on Monday, January 28. I should get a surgery date on Monday. I think I could have surgery on February 14. What a Valentine gift! I cannot hardly wait. :hurray: This has been a long process (nearly 9 months) to get to this point. I realize my journey is really just about to begin in earnest. I am ready for change. Andy

Kmarie: BCBS of AL has been approving the Lap-Band surgery since April 2007. However, you have some hoops to jump thur. 1. Your BMI must be over 40 or over 35 with at least 1 of 3 qualifiers (Sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes). My BMI is over 40 and I have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and High Blood Pressure. Due to my OSA, I have a trach. 2. You must have maintained a BMI of 35 with qualifiers or over 40 for the last 3 years. This is will be checked and verified by your surgeon & BCBS thur copies of your medical records you must have submitted by your doctors to the surgeons office. I was able to have my sleep doctor, my ENT, and my family doctor submit copies of my medical records for the last 5 years which I think helped. 3. If you meet 1 & 2, you must now complete at your expense a 6 month doctor directed diet with your family physician. During the diet, you must maintain a exercise and food journal to document your success or failure of the diet. This stage will require 7 monthly visits, scheduled at least 30 days apart with your family doctor. This is key as BCBS requires at least 30 days between each visit or it does not count. It cost me about $500 to complete this phase. I finished in December 2007. My family doctor knew why I wished to complete this diet program and was very supportive and understanding. My sleep doctor and ENT want me to get this surgery to help with my OSA. 4. Once complete with the diet, your surgeon can submit your paperwork to BCBS. BCBS will then require a consult with a physical therapist and a nutritionist. These consult visits are to teach you the exercise and diet plans you must follow prior to and after the surgery. I just completed this phase last week. I spent an hour showing I could do the exercises with the PT. I then went and spent the next hour learning how & what to eat. I am putting it to practice now. They say it takes 40 days to make or break a habit. 5. After the consults, your surgeon will re-submit the paperwork with the reports from PT and nutritionist. Now is the time to sit back and wait on BCBS. My surgeon tells me the approval can take any where from 24 hours (if submitted on-line) to 10 days. I am awaiting my surgery date. I hope to have a date later this week. I would think my surgery wold be sometime in February. 6. Final step is to get the surgery and start life a new. I am using Dr. Britt of Marshall Surgical group from Guntersville. They provide a free seminar monthly at the Madison Surgery Center on Lanier Road in Madison, Alabama. They have surgery rights at the surgery center, Crestwood in Huntsville, Marshall Medical North in Guntersville, and Marshall Medical South. I see you were planning on attending a seminar. Have you attended? Where do you plan to have this surgery? Andy

Kellye: I have not received my Lap-Band yet. I am working to get qualified with BCBS of AL. I have just completed my 6 month doctor directed diet as required by BCBS. I ahve also completed my consults with a nurtionist and a physcial threapist. I am just awaiting my surgery date. I will be using Dr. Britt and Dr. Groves in Guntersville. I hope to have a surgery date in the next few days. If approved, I assume I will have surgery sometime in February. Andy